DEAF WATCH---- August, 1997 Greetings, I am pleased and excited to announce William Cross (Bilal Rabah), who has cerebral palsy, will be joining the Deaf Watch Newsletter staff. He has experienced the so called "double discrimination" dilemma in which he as a muslim with cerebral palsy has encountered numerous discrimination problems at the workplace based on his race, religion, and disability. He pays a lot of attention to battling racial discrimination. He recently has voiced out against a condominium association for taking down signs written in Spanish that were placed in the laundry room. William's duties will be gathering disability resources and to gather news and from the disability (non-deaf) community. He has assisted me in testing automobile insurance companies by portraying as the 'hearing' consumer. I am really happy he has joined Deaf Watch Newsletter. He will start contributing to the newsletter in October. DeafWatch.com has 5 new pages added. The first one is "Press Announcements" that has archives of my communications with legislators, press releases, announcements, and other letters to officials. These letters have been sent on your behalf. The second one is "Keeping YOU Connected" is a page packed graphical hyperlinks to many free email providers. One of Deaf Watch's goals is to help as many people to stay on the net. Keeping YOU Connected page will help you stay in touch with your friends, relatives, the Deaf Community, and the Deaf Watch Newsletter. Thirdly, I even added Interpreters and Captioners page with links to providers of effective communication and and their associations as well as information. Fourth, I have added a legal resource page with free, low cost, pro bono, and pro se assistance links. I feel this addition will be very helpful to the Deaf community. And finally the best addition to the website this month is "Deaf Watch Message Center" which is a webboard and you can subscribe to it and it runs almost like a listserv for daily discussions about deafness, issues, concerns and to share important resources. There is NO LIMIT on the number of messages. I am very pleased with these new items that will help further my mission to educate and promote the Deaf community. The BLAST OF THE MONTH goes to the state of Michigan for their handling the Webb's family. I have taped and reviewed the story of the Deaf couple struggling to keep their first born child which was aired on NBC's Dateline on July 14, 1997. I find it despicable and disgusting that the State of Michigan would rely heavily on information from Diane Knickerbocker, a mentally unstable woman who has had her children taken away from her, to act against Gerald and Keri Webb and take their first born child, Angie, away from them. The state of Michigan along with Social Services' Don Venema failed to have interpreters with him when he went to investigate Knickerbockers' claims that the Webbs were neglecting their child, Angie. Mr. Venema relied on Diane Knickerbocker to communicate with the Webbs. Take note that family members who are usually emotionally involved with their Deaf relatives DO NOT MAKE GOOD INTERPRETERS. Federal and State law required Don Venema to bring interpreters with him when he went to check on the Webbs. Don FAILED to bring them so the State of Michigan and their Social Services Department are at fault. This reminds me of a quote by Kevin McLeod, a Deaf writer, "Some hearing parents worry about the Deaf community "taking their children away from them", but I [deaf] realize now that this happens to Deaf adults with hearing children ALL THE TIME!" I want to see that the Webbs are compensated for this extra burden of raising their children because the State of Michigan faulted when they relied heavily on information from someone with mental problems like Diane Knickerbocker ,who tried to shake and bake a cat and put a small dog in a microwave, to base their decisions to keep Angie away from the Webbs. I also want the state of Michigan to wake up and see the mess they're creating for this almost helpless Deaf couple. I want to express my thanks to NBC's Dateline and Sara James for bringing this to our attention and also I am appreciative that they had an interpreter present at the televised interview with Mr. and Mrs. Webb. Also thanks to Ann Mandt who represented the Webbs to clarify what was happening to them. Finally this tragedy demonstrates the importance of having qualified interpreters present at meetings with social services agencies, law enforcement, lawyers, doctors, dentists, and all meetings with reporters and investigators. The Editor ************************************************************* DEAF EXPO '97 INFORMATION NOW AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET The full EFTC web site is now public. It can be viewed at: www.DEAFEXPO.org We invite you to surf over and welcome your comments. DEAF EXPO '97 EF TRAINING CENTER, INC. ************************************************************* NEW YORK (AP) - An attorney in a $12 million lawsuit against a home for the deaf says mentally disabled patients were treated ``like animals,'' beaten, drugged and robbed of their government checks. Caroline Torge, 28, a former director of the home on Manhattan's Lower East Side, on Tuesday sued the New York Society for the Deaf, which runs the home. Residents were roughed up, even bruised, as workers tried to intimidate them, Torge said. Many were drugged to make them easier to supervise, she said. The residents also were allowed to sexually abuse each other, she said, and one even molested a 2-year-old child in a public laundromat. The allegations outlined by Torge and her attorney, Allen Rich, involve six deaf patients with mental disabilities. Pearl Johnson, the society's executive director, said she was aware of the lawsuit but would have no comment until she read it. The patients, some with a vocabulary of only a few words, also were robbed of their Social Security benefits, Rich said. The society ``was treating these deaf and developmentally disabled people like animals,'' he said. Torge was hired in March 1995 and became director a few months later. She said she reported the alleged abuses to her boss, but was told to keep quiet and not tell authorities. She said she later told state authorities about the alleged abuses and of fraudulent billing practices. Torge said she left her job in January 1996 after being demoted and asked to take a pay cut. Torge is seeking the money because she believes she was forced out of a job for trying to help the patients, Rich said. The not-for-profit home is a beneficiary of funds from the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies as well as other private and government money. The home serves at least 60 other deaf residents who are not mentally disabled. From The Associated Press ************************************************************* Pizza Hut Chain to Employ 2,500 Voc Rehab Clients The Jobs Plus project of the Pizza Hut corporation has been in place fourteen years as an employment initiative for persons with disabilities. They have recently announced a national goal to employ 2,500 vocational rehabilitation consumers by the end of the year. Integrated Resources Institute is assisting Pizza Hut with this initiative, and can assist individuals with job placement efforts. For more information, contact IRI at (800)704-5293. ************************************************************* FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, July 28, 1997 SAN DIEGO -- Disabled persons whose doctors verify they are unable to work will no longer be terminated from General Relief after three months. This change in policy is part of a settlement reached by the County and plaintiffs' attorneys in a class action lawsuit filed in May, challenging San Diego County regulations which classified many disabled persons as "employable," thereby allowing them to be cut from the General Relief rolls after three months. Under the settlement agreement, announced today by attorneys for the General Relief recipients and awaiting final approval by United States District Court Judge Jeffrey Miller, the County will no longer limit benefits to three months in any 12-month period for disabled persons whose doctors verify they cannot work. Instead, the three-month time limit will not begin until a disabled recipient has exhausted the period of unemployability specified by a doctor. Under previous policy, a doctor's verification would only exempt a recipient from General Relief work projects, but would not protect him or her from the time limit. The lawsuit was brought by the ACLU Foundation of San Diego and Imperial Counties, San Diego Friends of Legal Aid, and the Western Center on Law and Poverty in Los Angeles. Plaintiffs charged the County with violating the due process and equal protection clauses of the Constitution, the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, and state General Relief statutes. The settlement also provides that the County will no longer label as "employable" legal resident aliens who are disabled yet excluded by federal law from receiving federal disability benefits. In addition, the County will expedite the reinstatement of all disabled persons whose aid was terminated under the former policy. Notice of the changes already have been sent to those terminated under the former policy. "This settlement restores some compassion and practicality to the County's General Relief program," said Joni Halpern of the ACLU, one of the attorneys for the recipients. "It is wrong to deprive people of a bare subsistence benefit when they are too disabled to work. It also increases the risk and cost to the general public when people who are sick or injured have to live on the streets without medical care or decent nutrition." Attorney Clare Pastore of the Western Center on Law and Poverty added: "This is a victory for justice and common sense. If the County says that a person is too sick even to do a light work project, then it makes no sense to say the person is 'employable' and cut her off from aid." Rosemary Bishop, counsel from San Diego Friends of Legal Aid, praised the portion of the settlement that permits disabled permanent resident aliens to receive benefits. "These are people who are here legally and have followed all the rules," she said. "They shouldn't be thrown out in the street when they get sick or injured, just because they're not citizens." General Relief is a county-funded, state-mandated aid program of last resort for those who have no other means of support. The program provides indigents with a maximum of $234 a month which the County treats as a loan. Recipients must work off their grants at County work projects unless they have medical verification that they are unable to work. (From ACLU) ************************************************************* Gingrich introduces The Medicaid Community Attendant Services Act of 1997. CONGRATULATIONS Mike Auberger, Bob Kafka, Stephanie Thomas, Mike Oxford and all members of ADAPT. Congratulations NCD, NCIL and all members of CCD and the disability community who have fought for community based services. After months of negotiations with leaders of ADAPT, on June 23rd House Speaker Newt Gingrich introduced The Medicaid Community Attendant Services Act of 1997 (CASA). It does not provide for complete consumer controlled community based services, but it is a credible beginning - giving thousands a real alternative to incarceration in institutions, nursing homes and back rooms. CASA needs your immediate support. It has not yet been introduced in the Senate. Contact Majority Leader Trent Lott, Minority Leader Tom Daschle, our good friends Tom Harkin, Paul Wellstone, Jim Jeffords, John Chafee, Ted Kennedy, Bill Frist - and of course your own Senators. In the House congratulate Speaker Newt Gingrich, and urge him to push CASA to early passage. Contact Congressmen Tom Bliley, Michael Bilirakis, Richard Gephardt, John Kasich, Steny Hoyer, Major Owens and all our good friends in the House - and your own Representative. Contact the White House, the President, the Vice President, Bill White. The President has several times endorsed the concept of PASS now we need his support for specific legislation. Colleagues, this is a top priority issue. Hundreds of thousands of Americans with Disabilities and chronic illness are incarcerated in institutions without due process of law for lack of simple community based services. CASA will lower the overhead and vastly increase the productivity and quality of life of America. Pass it now! FREE OUR PEOPLE! Becky Ogle Fred Fay Justin & Yoshiko Dart Mark Smith ************************************************************* "Crestar Offers Free Video on Mortgages for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumers; ASL/Open Captioned Video Clarifies Home Buying Process RICHMOND, Va., (Aug. 4) Crestar today announced that it is offering free of charge a new video on home mortgages produced specifically for individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing. The video, which uses American Sign Language (ASL) and open captioning as well as the traditional audio soundtrack, covers topics such as preparing financially to buy a house, identifying sources for your down payment, the sequence of the mortgage loan process, and simple explanations of mortgage terminology. Crestar's new video fills a void in the information available to an important segment of the consumer market, according to Meg O'Connell, Crestar's Coordinator for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services. The mortgage application process is confusing for almost everyone. For members of the deaf and hard of hearing community, the problem is compounded because of the scarcity of consumer information available in a user friendly format,'' Ms. O'Connell said. Crestar produced the video with two specific goals -- to provide a comprehensive but easy to understand overview of the steps the consumer will follow as he or she applies for a loan, and to communicate this information in the language of deaf and hard of hearing individuals -- American Sign Language and open captioning, she said. Crestar debutted the video at a reception and seminar on home ownership for the deaf and hard of hearing on Thursday evening, August 7, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Crestar Mortgage Corporation headquarters building, located at 901 Semmes Avenue. Crestar bankers and mortgage lenders will be available to talk with individuals about their specific needs and to pre-qualify them for a mortgage loan. ASL interpreters were provided. The video is available free of charge to members of the deaf and hard of hearing community, and those organizations and schools who work with them by calling Ms. O'Connell at 804-782-5265. TDD number is 804-782-5328. The new video is the latest in a series produced by the bank as part of its Crestar Hears the Deaf Community program, which began two years ago to provide interpreters and other support for the deaf and hard of hearing community. Earlier videos covered retail banking products and investments, and to date more than 500 copies of the videos have been distributed nationwide. Crestar Mortgage Corporation is a subsidiary of Crestar Bank and the largest Virginia-based mortgage company with more than $4 billion in origination in 1996. The company also has one of the first Internet Web sites (www.crestarmortgage.com) offering borrowers confidential on-line access to current information about their home loans. Crestar Bank, the largest financial institution based in Virginia, has 483 banking locations in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. In addition to mortgage lending, other subsidiaries provide insurance and full-service securities and investment advisory services. At June 30, 1997, Crestar had total assets of $22.8 billion and other deposits of $15.8 billion. SOURCE: Crestar Financial Corporation [Editor's note: Remember that every year in September HUD (Housing Urban Development) has a $100.00 down payment special on their listings. It's a great time for Deaf people to become homebuyers and say "Goodbye" to their landlords! Anyone who is interested in this program should contact any real estate agent for this fantastic once a year homebuying opportunity. Also according to "Magazine of HUD HOMES" August 97 publication, you can use SSI and Disability Income to qualify for loans on purchasing HUD homes provided that you have been receiving these for 3 years! I have a small stack of these magazines and will mail a copy(ies) to anyone interested in HUD homes in Riverside, San Bernardino, and Orange Counties in California also in the High desert as well. Email me your snail mail address and I will send you copy(ies) free! Also there is a surprise on page 3 of this magazine for Deaf consumers!] ************************************************************* Human Rights Action Coalition We are planning to form a new activist organization in the New York City area that exposes the evil practices of the mental health system. Currently, existing recipient-run organizations which claim to provide self-help and mutual support throughout the country receive government or private funding. Ultimately, we will be a self-supporting organization opposing the mental health system rather than reforming it. IF YOU ARE FOR: EQUAL RIGHTS, AFFORDABLE AND DECENT HOUSING, QUALITY HEALTH CARE, MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT, ETC. OR IF YOU ARE AGAINST: CORPORATE MANIPULATION, HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION, FORCED PSYCHIATRIC DRUGGING, RACISM AND OTHER FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION, ETC. WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON. We are looking for individuals who have been mistreated by the mental health system and want to prevent others from falling prey to the same abuses. Others concerned about quality of life issues pertaining to human rights are strongly encouraged to join as well. If you are interested, please feel free to contact Chris J. Brunson below. E-mail - qolspony@intercall.com Telephone - (718) 267-2872 Fax - (718) 267-2872 Snail Mail - Human Rights Action Coalition Post Office Box 190084 Richmond Hill, NY 11419-0084 ************************************************************* A Relief for the Connecticut Deaf community! CDHI Executive Director/Political appointee, Valerie Marino announced at the Weekly Staff meeting of CDHI that she has been reassigned and will be leaving CDHI effective Friday 7/11/97. Marino announced that Stacie Eusko will be appointed Executive Director. Marino's secretary Dottie left last week. She was another person who was appointed to work at CDHI who had no background in deafness. Will this mean positive changes at CDHI? We'll see, at least we're moving in the right direction!! CRID will keep it's members informed of all changes occurring at CDHI. From CRID homepage http://members.aol.com/jking5023/CRID2index.html ************************************************************* Deaf lifeguard sues YMCA after being fired LOS ANGELES (Reuter) - A deaf woman sued the Young Men's Christian Association Friday, claiming she was fired from her job as a lifeguard because of her handicap. In suits filed in state and federal courts Friday, Stacy Adams sought $2 million in actual damages and $10 million in punitive damages. Adams, 21, who became a certified lifeguard at the Los Altos YMCA near Long Beach in 1995, was fired a year later. She told reporters her deafness caused no job-related problems. She said she had been told her firing came after the YMCA's headquarters in Chicago changed its policy on allowing the deaf to work as lifeguards. A spokesman for the Los Altos YMCA said he could not comment on pending litigation, except to stress the organization's main concern was for the safety of its patrons. Adams' lawyer Marshall Caskey said, ``All the scientific studies that have been done suggest that lifeguards who are hearing-impaired are perfectly good liefguards.'' The suit filed in federal court alleges the YMCA violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act in firing her in May 1996. Adams also sued the local YMCA in Los Angeles Superior Court seeking unspecified damages alleging it violated California's Fair Employment Act. Adams, who also teaches swimming and is a certified emergency medical technician, wanted the YMCA to reverse its policy on deaf lifeguards. (From NJ-L News) ************************************************************* The Lawsuit Lists : No one is immune to disability lawsuits! Roe v. Housing Authority [ 909 F.Supp. 814 (D. Col. 1995).] Public housing tenant/ handicapped bipolar disorder,manic depressive disorder [ Requires that reasonable accommodation be made if this will permit the person to become qualified handicapped person eligible to enjoy equal housing opportunity. Finds that the Housing Authority violated Fair Housing Act, Rehab Act and ADA by not providing reasonable accommodation. ] Shapiro v. Cadman Towers, Inc. [ 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 5746 (2nd Cir. 1995).] Disability/reasonable accommodation [ This case requires affirmative acts to provide a reasonable accommodation for disabled tenant. In this case to provide a ground level parking space without being first placed on a waiting list.] ************************************************************* This month's recipients of the Deaf Watch Award. Communications Unlimited (http://www.communltd.com) This ia a good site. Deafblind Link (http://www.s55wilma.demon.co.uk/) An EXCEPTIONAL website for the British Deaf, Blind, and Deafblind! Kev's Home Page (http://home1.gte.net/deafie/index.html) This is a new site and it's growing. Listen Up! (http://members.tripod.com/~listenup/index.htm) A good resource site for parents of Hearing Impaired children. The "Speaker" Page (http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/3612/CONTENTS.HTM) This is a very good site! Coperativa DIRE (http://www.arpnet.it/~dire/) A good website for the Italian Deaf! ************************************************************* "Blindness separates you from things, deafness separates you from people" Helen Keller ************************************************************* "The best friend of the deaf is not the fellow who gives them advice and assistance. It is the man who asks them for it." George Propp in 'The Nebraska Journal.' ************************************************************* Letters from readers. The Community Ear newspaper, as one program of TDD-AMERICA Inc. The Community Ear 300 NE Multnomah St. Suite 2 Portland, OR 97232 Other programs that TDD-AMERICA provides include: advocacy, counseling, job placement, and community outreach. Our newest programs are: Employment Assistance Resource Services (EARS Program) Tana Bishop-Director (503) 232-7860 VOICE (503) 233-1460 FAX (503) 232-7890 TDD Emplserv@JUNO.COM E-MAIL and Mike's Place Kara Tison-Director (503) 232-3093 Voice Karat3@JUNO.COM E-MAIL Mike's Place is a deli and coffee shop featuring an on-the-job career training program for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf/Blind. ------------------------- Dear Editor Roehm: I wish to make a few journalistic suggestions. In your July 26 edition, you were giving congratulations to the Deaf people in Georgia without telling readers what they had done. Some people don't read everything and they are counting on subscriptions like Deafwatch to inform or update them. A reporter should never make a comparison between something that is not similar. For instance, in your July 26 edition, you were comparing Harris to segregation bus boycott in Montgomery and it is absolutely a NO-NO! Because it is taking a reader's focus away from the main issue and start thinking about African Americans instead. It could backfire, depending on who is reading. It is uniquely African American's struggle. As well as our struggle is quite unique. Some African Americans and Deaf might be offended by this comparison and some readers might become prejudiced by reading this article, you never know. So, I suggest that in the future you should avoid making any analogy at all. It might be helpful for a Deafwatch reporter to get all other sides to every story such as that lady who is having problems with Crown Books and National Association of the Deaf. That way Deafwatch will be balanced, and may appear not so militant, or one sided. One of the best rules of thumb in journalism is to write skillfully and let the readers react, rather than for an audience to read an emotional and subjective article. I hope you will consider these suggestions and make Deafwatch the most respect news for everyone. I enjoyed reading the ADA's seventh anniversary article. Sincerely, --Patricia Raswant 11praswa@gallux.gallaudet.edu ------------------- Hi! My story is very simple. I'm a department of Justice employee who has been discriminated against due to my deafness..............and I continue to be discriminated against to this day! I work in a hostile environment due to the discrimination and the long term effects of almost 25 years. I am currently being trained by my department to enter the paralegal field - in an effort to accommodate my request for a transfer to a more congenial setting. At present my life is constantly in danger from co-workers who remain steadfast in their jealousy of my training. There are three or four individuals who I presently fear. But I have attempted to turn this fear into a productive concept............and part of that is the reason I developed the website located at http://www.webnetimage.com/irishman. At present, the site is located on a server that is having sever problems loading, This should be resolved in the next week. I'd like to share with you a sample of just one of the travesties that goes on for the physically challenged in a government office. In order to "hear" my telephone on my desk at work, I am required to be constantly vigilant and "watch" for the "blinking" monitor on the telephone's dial face. Yesterday I must have been intensely concentrating on my work at hand, and didn't notice an incoming call. A co-worker picked up the call on her phone, and it happened to be my 70 year old mother who has arterial fibrillation. I have constantly requested that if a call from my mother comes in, and I do not "hear" it, to notify me immediately since I'm her only support option at times, This employee did not do that though, instead she told my mother that "She's not answering her phone". When I heard this from my mother later, I asked if she had gotten the name of the individual who answered the phone. She said no, but she would if it happened again............which it did..............today. So now I have a documented note from my mother regarding the event, and the name of the individual. However when I release these on Monday, I guarantee that she will not suffer any of the disciplinary actions that any "normal" person such as I would have to endure if the tables were turned. So I have one question left to ask. Where is the "fairness" for the deaf person? Must we also be impacted by stupid people who refuse to accept us as we are? Are we always to be held up to ridicule? Sincerely, Dorothy M. Balesh omulhall@concentric.net ------------------------- Greeting from North Carolina!!! This is my professional email corresponding address, we can maintain being in touch and I am hoping that you would spread the words that if they need any HIV, AIDS, or STD info. There's a TTY hotline in available for any of their/yours call! 1-(800)-AIDS-TTY and it is fully confidential! No one don't need to use their name! just state that your a female or male caller, smile. Chad A. Ludwig Senior Supervision/Manager Center for Disease Control and Prevention American Social Health Association National AIDS Hotline - TTY chalud@ashastd.org ------------------------------------------------------------- - DEAF WATCH - Federal ID Number : 33-0765412 - Circulation by EMAIL : 234 Subscribers - Chief Editor/Editor : Richard Roehm - Orange County, California - Internet : Deaf@activist.com - Deaf_Activist@deafwatch.com - Nesmuth@bbs.hwsys.com - Nesmuth@concentric.net - DEAF WATCH Http://www.DeafWatch.com - Http://home.hwsys.com/users/roehm/deaf.htm - Visit Http://home.hwsys.com/users/roehm/nez.htm ------------------------------------------------------------- - SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION - To be added to the mailing list, send "SUBSCRIBE" - To be deleted from the mailing list send "DELETE" - to this address NESMUTH@BBS.HWSYS.COM - - Mailing lists are not sold/given to anyone. -------------------------------------------------------------